One of the organic methods we use in our farming is vermicomposting, which is the use of worms to compost organic matter. We maintain a worm bin to which we add food scraps daily. The worms break down the food waste into compost, which we then use to fertilize our plants. It's a great way to recycle nutrients that would otherwise go to waste. It also helps reduce the amount of methane produced from rotting food, which is an even stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. You can put just about any kind of food into a vermicomposter, except for meat, dairy, citrus fruits, and vegetables in the garlic/onion family, which the worms won't eat. Our home vermicomposter handles nearly all the fruit and vegetable waste we produce. I'm glad we're doing our part to take this step toward sustainability.

Composting with worms (or creating any kind of compost) requires you to maintain a balance between organic matter high in nitrogen (which includes most food) and organic matter rich in carbon (paper, wood, leaves, etc.) It's also important to keep the soil moist for the worms. Our worm bin has several layers. We put food scraps in at the top, and as we put more food in, the worms tend to move towards the top to eat the food. When the top layer gets full, we take the bottom layer out (which is basically humus at this point) and use it to fertilize the plants in our garden, and then put the bin on top of the previously-top layer, to allow us to begin a new layer. The material the worms leave behind is rich in nutrients for plants, helps improve the structure of the soil, and is an excellent natural fertilizer. The liquid residue from the process of vermicomposting is also a valuable resource and can be used to make compost "tea." Despite the name, it's not for drinking. We use it in our aquaponic greenhouse as a foliar spray to guard against certain pests and as a fertilizer. It's a very useful by-product of vermicomposting, and terrific stuff!

When we scale to our next-stage greenhouse at GBG's new site, worms will be part of our aquaponic system. They will be placed in our growing media and have the effect of helping to break down solids in our system. We've also used the vermicompost we've made in the gardens at Hannah and Friends and to enrich the soil at our Downtown Skywalk Garden. We're also happy that larger volumes of vermicompost are available through a terrific local business, Dirty Bill's Organic Soil, when we need it. Worms have the potential to do a lot of "heavy lifting" throughout the whole process of farming and gardening!

Growing Power in Milwaukee is an organization that is a pioneer in the use of vermicompost. They have two methods of doing this: the first way is through the use of a layered worm bin, similar to ours. The people at Growing Power check on the worm bins daily to make sure there's enough food for the worms, and at the end of a 12-week period, they put a new layer on and feed the worms more food. The other method used is compost piles, which contain bedding materials for the worms as well as food scraps for the worms to feast on.

For those looking for more information on vermicomposting, here are two helpful articles that walk you through the basics of how to build a bin, the type of worms to use, and what worms need to thrive:

The transition to a new year is always a good time to take stock of the previous year, and prepare for the year to come. 2015 has been a busy year for us!We like lists because they help us bring ideas together, help us reflect, and set goals. Our co-founder Chris recently put together his “Top Ten” of the past year – things to be proud of, special progress, and people and partnerships cherished. What’s on Chris’ list this year? Many wonderful things:1) LAND – “That’s huge, land has got to be first!” Yes, indeed. We are thrilled to have land on which to grow and expand our work. While we continue growing at the Hannah and Friends greenhouse, we are happy to have found 5+ acres in Mishawaka, Indiana on which to expand our farming operations. Our land search took more than a year, and countless champions provided connections and lent a hand in the process. We’re grateful to grow and expand and have the space to do it – there’s so much potential!

2) GREENHOUSES – Next up on Chris’ list were the greenhouses. We’re building two structures, an aquaponics greenhouse and a “high tunnel” that provides year-round growing. Each is 2000 square feet. We’ve been at the process of construction since the fall, trenching, putting in infrastructure like water and electrical lines, and removing brush and debris from our site. “To see our greenhouses going up, it’s really means a lot.” We’re really excited by that progress!

3) OUR INTERNS – Jackie Mack from Notre Dame and Christin Kloski from Saint Mary’s College had internships in our training development program this year, and their friendly, competent personalities provided much energy, support and encouragement to our trainees. This fall, practicum student Janaeé Wallace from Notre Dame joined us to provide expertise in fish biology, and 1st year MBA student Helios MacNaught came onboard as a business development consultant. In our book, they all rock!4) PARTNERSHIPS – We are extremely fortunate to have had the support of outstanding partners whose resources have allowed our work to flourish and have impact in the past year. The Kelly Cares Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, the Indiana ARC, the Klau Family Foundation, Johnny’s Selected Seed Company, and the Pokagon Fund have been generous and enthusiastic partners throughout the year. Our work reflects their commitment to making a difference and improving the lives of the entire community.5) TRAINING – “We were able to expand what we know and what we do because of the training program from this year,” said Chris. Thanks to Kelly Cares, we piloted a training program to teach autistic adults farming and on-the-job skills to pave the way for the world of work. Lots of learning, leadership, new skills, and new responsibilities are the outcomes we see. Teaching and training are at the heart of what we do!

6) BASIL AND MINT – These two crops make the list because they are everyone’s favorite crops to grow. From pestos to spaghetti sauce to salads, basil is a hands-down winner with our crowd. Mint is a close second! We grow tons of different varieties (apple, spearmint, peppermint, chocolate, mojito) and we love cooking and baking with it. Yumm!7) VOLUNTEERS - Volunteers make so much happen! Melissa Tomas, who joins us on Thursdays, runs a gardening club for several Hannah and Friends participants that is a pure joy. We also have had terrific crews come out to work with us on the construction of our new greenhouses and that help has been amazing. A real cross-section has joined us: The Young Professionals Network of South Bend, the ND Knights of Columbus, the Elkhart Memorial High School Key Club and National Honor Society, the Penn High School Hockey Team, the Saint Mary's College Office of Civic and Social Engagement, Whole Foods, the Notre Dame MBA Program, St. Joseph’s High School, GreeND, the Notre Dame Alumnae Family Camp. The list goes on and on! What amazing work they’ve done for us, helped us push ahead to keep our greenhouse construction on track. Yes, they rock too!8) TOURS – Our trainees offered about 30 tours this past year to groups of foreign students, area college classes, young entrepreneur groups. “It’s been exciting to speak to everyone about aquaponics and we’ve all gotten better about sharing and telling about our work,” said Chris. We love using tours as a great leadership development tool for our trainees!

9) AQUAPONICS ACROSS THE SPECTRUM – Piloted by Saint Mary’s College Professor Amy Gillan and Notre Dame senior Shella Raja, Aquaponics Across the Spectrum was a specialized middle school aquaponics curriculum that included students with autism. Piloted at Edison Intermediate Center in South Bend, the workshops were hands-on, fun, and a great way to share the science of farming and aquaponics with others. What a lot of learning – a highlight of our year!10) FOOD – And the last shall be first. Probably one of the biggest reasons our trainees like to farm is because they love to eat. “Cooking brownies, tea, and salsa after growing the ingredients is one of the best things in the world.” We agree. Farm to fork dining is a real treat!

Thank you for encouraging and supporting our work in 2015! Here’s to a great 2016!

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About Us

Green Bridge Growers is a social enterprise created to put to work the many gifts and skills of young adults with autism. Our founders, Chris and Jan, are building an exciting venture that grows fresh local food and grows great jobs for autistic adults. We invite you to learn about us and follow our work!